I Heard it Downtown

Things can get pretty heated when me and my buddies play Madden. In the heat of battle, disparaging remarks about mothers and girlfriends might get thrown about. We might pause the game in the middle of a play, or force each other to watch instant replays of that last Hail Mary again and again. Just because we bust each other’s chops doesn’t mean that there aren’t lines that we don’t cross though. If somebody is lucky enough to have a huge lead, that person better not start going for fake punts on 4th down. Poor Madden sportsmanship will result in a deluge of profanities and hurt feelings at the very least. Flagrant violations of video game sportsmanship might result in something drastic, like my roommate discovering his toothbrush floating in our toilet.

The point is, even in the heat of competition, there are certain lines you shouldn’t cross.

Covenant Christian, near Dallas Texas, would have done well to remember that. Covenant’s girls basketball team recently defeated neighboring Dallas Academy 100-0. That isn’t a typo…they actually pitched a shutout in a basketball game. Covenant plans on competing for a state title in Texas, whereas Dallas Academy, a school that specializes in helping students with learning disabilities. Academy has only 20 girls in their entire high school. Clearly, this was going to be a mismatch.

But Covenant’s coaching staff didn’t exactly help matters. After racing to more than a 50 point lead at halftime, Covenant continued to shoot three pointers and press (according to media reports). After the game, the embarrassed headmaster for Covenant issued a public apology for the massacre, and for good reason. I know the Bible is rather silent as to what kind of defense Jesus would run, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be running a full court press against a team of special education students if he was winning by more than 20.

But Covenant’s coach was unrepentant, saying that he disagreed with the administration, and didn’t think he had anything to apologizer for. The Covenant administration, wisely seeing that this kind of behavior clashed with the mission of their school, recently sacked the coach.

I’ve covered high school sports for other newspapers before. Sometimes things can get out of hand quickly. It isn’t fair to either team, or the game, to tell one team to quit playing, but there are ways to win without embarrassing or obliterating somebody. A smart coach would have used a blowout to try some new offensive sets, and would have just asked his team to use more of the shot clock, and stop pressing. Running up the score isn’t just a display of classlessness, but it robs his team of an important teaching opportunity.

Stunts like this have a way of coming back to haunt you. In Texas, maybe he’ll just find himself on the other end of a massive blowout.

If he tried that in our apartment, he might want to watch his toothbrush.